


the strange life in oceanic fissures

by Dr4conianlaw



Category: Kamen Rider Zero-One
Genre: Gen, naki. reveal to me your secrets., spoilers for 29
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-07
Updated: 2020-04-07
Packaged: 2021-03-01 21:48:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 749
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23534098
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dr4conianlaw/pseuds/Dr4conianlaw
Summary: Human hearts are fragile.
Comments: 6
Kudos: 27





	the strange life in oceanic fissures

Human hearts are fragile.

They break, they fracture, they shatter.

Case in point: the human that they had been placed inside. He had an obnoxiously broken heart, all cracks and jagged edges. Raw and gross.

Nonetheless, it was their job to hold this heart together. So they did so, they settled into the cracks and pulled the shards into place. Just enough for a Frankensteinian approximation of function, no point in going any further.

It made a good place to hide.

It was the president who wound up making their job much harder for them. He apparently didn’t understand the nuances of the situation, didn’t understand that the element of stealth was what allowed them to be so effective. Instead, in his ego trip, he decided to shine a spotlight on them.

Oh, they could still do their job, of course. This human may have finally become suspicious of the cracks in them, may be now thrashing and struggling. But they had lived in these cracks for a long time now, they were far too familiar a ground to just be shaken out by a human who’s only recently achieved any understanding.

Still, the struggle being _pointless_ made it all the worse. Because it was causing pain, _avoidable_ pain for the both of them, when it was all a futile effort, when they know and he should know that there would be no way to resist in the end. They (for once, a plural,) were _tools_ , and it was _unfair_ that they should be put through all of this just because he refuses to comprehend this basic fact.

(But what did they expect, this was a very stupid human after all, one that didn’t know how to avoid pain. That’s what almost got them both killed when he first started using assault wolf.)

But even though the pain they had to bear it, had to follow the president’s orders, had to get this troublesome marionette moving. He could spite them all he wanted, but they were the one with their hands on his heartstrings.

And then suddenly something _shifted_ under them.

They weren’t sure what it was at first. By all appearances their surroundings were the same, the same familiar broken shards. But when they pulled, in the way they normally do, with their practiced and tested techniques for taking control…

Nothing. Suddenly unresponsive.

...Oh. Was it the gravity that changed?

Right. The center of gravity-- the center of his heart-- had previously been amongst these cracks, in the wreckage. Of course it was, the center would be the highest point of stress for any heart. And it had been convenient for them, the perfect place to operate from.

Now, though, the tug of gravity lead somewhere different. So his center had shifted? They followed, curious...

...And followed it to some unfamiliar object lodged deep into the rubble of his heart, unfamiliar and… new?

_New_ , that was a problem, it was too new, there was no wear yet, no damage, no cracks for them to slip into. They circled around, exploring and checking to make sure, but nothing. They couldn’t make sense of it.

What now?

...This was only a setback.

Human hearts were fragile.

Whatever this was, as solid as it seemed now... if he was choosing to keep his heart here then it inevitably would, too, break, fracture, shatter.

“--Oi, Naki. You’re listening, right?”

They were disturbed from their musings by the address. This was new, he’d not tried this before. They stilled, careful not to give any hint that they were listening, no need to give him the satisfaction.

“Fine, don’t respond. Anyways, you can watch, you can listen--”

(Rub it in why doesn’t he, as if they had a choice in the matter.)

“--But you can’t manipulate me anymore. In fact, everything I said to Yaiba goes for you too-- I’m not acknowledging you until I hear what your real dream is.”

What? Dreams? Oh, wait, is _that_ what that new solid object in his heart was? How annoying.

Anyways, they were a tool without a heart or dreams, so he was just talking nonsense at them. At least he seemed to be finished talking nonsense, as he stopped talking to himself like a weirdo after that.

...If there was literally nothing they can do right now but wait… then they could do nothing. At least this could be a break, after how hectic the last weeks had been.

They would wait, and be ready.


End file.
